Kakuna
Shed Skin
30% chance to heal status.
Type Tier
Bug / Poison NFE
Statistics
Min- Min Max Max+
HP
45
 - 231 294 -
Atk
25
 77 86 149 163
Def
50
 122 136 199 218
SpA
25
 77 86 149 163
SpD
25
 77 86 149 163
Spe
35
 95 106 169 185
Name Item Nature

Defender

 Black Sludge Impish
Moveset EVs
~ Poison Sting
~ Harden
~ String Shot
128 HP / 128 Atk / 252 Def

I can see this becoming the standard set. Black Sludge is there to not only heal Kakuna, but to help ward off use of Trick or Covet. Harden increases its already high Defense. String Shot can be used to try and mediate quicker things such as Weavile and Dugtrio.

Name Item Nature

Sweeper

 Metronome Adamant
Moveset EVs
~ Poison Sting
~ Harden
~ String Shot
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

A sweeping set. Harden a few times, then sweep with Poison Sting using the Metronome. Be careful about Steel types switching in, as they easily counter this set.

Name Item Nature

Trapper Counter

 Shed Shell Impish
Moveset EVs
~ Poison Sting
~ Harden
~ String Shot
252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe

Dugtrio/Trapinch/Wobbuffet counter, mainly. Use String Shot to decrease Dugtrio's Speed, possibly hit it with poison status from Poison Sting, and switch out using Shed Shell.

Name Item Nature

Tank

 Sticky Barb Impish
Moveset EVs
~ Harden
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD

Ah, the old in-game standard. It's as good of a tank as it ever was. With the inclusion of Sticky Barb, it now has an opportunity to deal damage better and faster than it could before. This set would work better with Leech Seed support.

Other Options

Choice Band works as an alternate Metronome to allow you to rack up damage faster with Poison Sting. Black Sludge works over Leftovers in an Item Clause environment. Other than that, nothing really notable.

Opinion

Kakuna is still one of the most interesting bugs out there. I expect it to be underused for a while as people drool over sweepers like Garchomp and Azelf, and then returned to as people go back for the old reliable standards. Overall, Kakuna hasn't changed much from Advance, but it didn't really need to. That said, it got a few new toys like Metronome, Sticky Barb, and Shed Shell. Expect to see Kakuna work the same way it did in Advance.

EVs

Kakuna should focus on HP and Defense on defensive sets, and maximize Attack on offensive ones. Some sets may elect to split EVs between Attack and Defense.

Counters

Parasect can kill it, but it has to be careful switching in because of Poison Sting. Farfetch'd resists its moves, but can be walled by Harden.